1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the autologous transfusion of blood to a patient from a primary blood drainage reservoir, e.g., the collection chamber of a drainage device for the chest cavity of the patient, a cardiotomy reservoir, or the like, by means of a transfer bag apparatus having a spike inlet adapted to be placed in fluid-tight communication with the primary blood drainage reservoir.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The transfer bag of the present invention is generally useful in autologous transfusion where blood is first removed from a patient into a primary blood drainage reservoir. Two examples of such reservoirs will be described hereinafter. The present invention relates to the use of a blood transfer bag, of a particular design, which is adapted to be placed in fluid-tight communication with the interior of a primary blood drainage reservoir to allow for transfer of blood from the reservoir into the transfer blood bag. The transfer blood bag also has separate means which are adapted to be connected with an infusion set to infuse the patient with the collected blood.
One example of a primary blood reservoir is a cardiotomy reservoir of the type shown in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol. 40, No. 5, November 1985, pp. 519-520. The spike means on the transfer blood bag described herein can be placed into the outlet port or tubing of such a reservoir, if desired, to receive the blood for eventual reinfusion into the patient.
Another type of primary blood drainage reservoir adapted to be used herein is the collection chamber of an underwater drainage device for the chest cavity of a patient. It is known to collect fluid, blood and gases from the chest cavity between the lung and the surrounding rib cage of a patient. Various type of apparatus are used for such a purpose. Generally, "one-bottle", "two-bottle", and "three-bottle" collection systems are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,400 to L. D. Kurtz et al. illustrates a recent device of this type. Often, such devices have sampling ports (e.g., equipped with latex diaphragms) in the wall of the collection chamber which can be accessed with the blood transfer bag of the present invention.
Autologous blood transfusion processes, using transfer blood bags, which differ in design from the present bag, are described in the literature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,745 describes an autologous transfusion system and method which contemplates the use of a flexible transfer bag which functions to receive blood from a second receptacle in a dual receptable blood-receiving apparatus. There is no suggestion of using the transfer bag with the collection chamber of a chest drainage device or with a cardiotomy reservoir. Also, the transfer bag shown in this patent differs from the bag of the present invention since it has a single opening or puncture site to both receive blood from the receptacle as well as later serve as a point of attachment for a transfusion set. This puncture side is also not in the form of a spike adapted to be placed in fluid-tight communication with either a chest drainage collection chamber or with a cardiotomy reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,608 illustrates, in FIG. 5, for example, a suction collection system which utilizes a lower blood reservoir bag made of flexible material which contains two openings to receive blood from an upper reservoir and to connect to an infusion set, respectively. The inwardly projecting sleeve in this bag which is adapted to receive an extending tube from an upper collection (or primary) reservoir is, again, not designed or adapted to be placed in fluid-tight communication with a chest drainage collection chamber (such as those having sampling ports which need to be pierced) or with a cardiotomy reservoir.